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Representing Victims of Addictive Social Media Algorithms
Within the last decade, social media has become embedded into our daily lives growing most rapidly among children and teenagers with 97% of teens using these platforms today, according to a 2022 Pew Research Study. Although once used to share photos and connect with friends, today social media accounts for a billion-dollar industry that obtains a large portion of its revenue from ads targeted towards children who spend significant amounts of time on social media platforms.
Unfortunately, social media platforms are reportedly filled with harmful content promoting unrealistic body standards, cyberbullying, racism, child pornography, and gender-based violence. However, in addition to the harmful content promoted on these platforms, social media platforms make use of addictive algorithms to encourage children and teens to spend hours on each platform every day.
Both tactics are particularly harmful to young children who are very impressionable and have not adequately developed impulse control due to their age. In fact, many children who frequently use social media have also developed negative habits such as isolation, loneliness, irritability, low self-esteem, and depression. In some cases, children have tragically acquired eating disorders or have engaged in self-harm leading to suicide as a result.
Social media companies must be held accountable for their complicity in perpetuating the growing mental health crisis among teens. For years, numerous studies have highlighted the elevated risk that children face by being exposed to addictive algorithms that promote harmful content on social media, and social media companies have had ample time to regulate and adjust their algorithms to reduce the risk of harm.
If you or a loved one have experienced an injury as a result of prolonged social media use, contact the Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm today for a free consultation. You may be eligible to file a social media harm lawsuit against the platforms responsible for you or your loved one’s injury.
We can help when the unimaginable happens.
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Prolonged Social Media Use Negatively Impacts Children
Studies dating back to the mid-2010s show that prolonged social media use has a negative impact on young children, and an alarming number of headlines detailing tragic incidents of self-harm and suicide as a result of social media usage seem to confirm these findings.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General published an advisory which found that harmful content exposure and problematic social media use were “primary areas of concern.” According to the report, “extreme, inappropriate, and harmful content,” including the list below, was found the be “easily and widely accessible to children and adolescents.”
- Live depictions of self-harm which normalized such behaviors
- Content perpetuating body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors
- Hate-based content particularly shown to adolescent girls of color
- Predatory interactions disproportionately impacting adolescent girls and transgender youth
In addition to the alarming content/behaviors cited above, social media’s addictive algorithm can also negatively impact adolescents’ mental health or exacerbate existing mental health issues by displacing the amount of time children/adolescents spend in person, disrupting in-person social interactions, interfering with sleep and by exposing children to cyberbullying, according to a study published by Psychiatry Online.
Social media companies should have intervened and better regulated their content when they were first made aware of the risk. Yet, despite the proliferation of studies regarding the correlation between social media use and declining mental health, social media companies turned a blind eye to the abuse which put millions of children at risk of being exposed to toxic content and developing harmful behaviors as a result.
Is Social Media Harming Your Child?
Your child's well-being matters! Our experienced lawyers for social media harassment are ready to fight for your child's rights. Schedule your free consultation today!
Schedule a Free ConsultationSocial Media Companies Knowingly Use Addictive Algorithms
Social media platforms use algorithms to improve an individual’s feed so that posts that align with interests of a user are promoted. Although algorithms may seem like a tool used to enhance the user’s experience by promoting content that they are already interested in, in reality, algorithms are designed to maximize the amount of time an individual spends on a platform in order to increase the amount of revenue generated from third-party advertisements.
Experts hold that social media algorithms employ the same tactics used in gambling to encourage prolonged use. The most commonly cited example is the mechanism used to refresh a user’s feed. For a user to refresh their feed, they must “pull down” on their screen to produce a new batch of curated content. This action has been compared to pulling down on the lever of a slot machine, which produces the same dopamine reward that can lead to addiction and compulsive use.
Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation — MDL No. 3047
In 2023, lawsuits brought against Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat were consolidated into a Multidistrict Litigation No. 3047 in the Northern District of California. Lawsuits have been brought forward on behalf of children and adolescents who’ve suffered injuries as a result of social media addictions as well as by school districts who allege that students’ addiction to social media has burdened schools and public health resources.
According to Plaintiff’s Master Amended Complaint, social media companies knowingly manufactured addictive algorithms by using features including but not limited to:
- Lack of screen time limitations
- Dopamine delivery through features such as “likes”
- Timing and clustering of notifications to increase addictive use, including trophies to reward usage such as Snapchat “streaks”
- Barriers to account deletion
The complaint further alleges that social media companies have knowingly implemented features that can be used to victimize and exploit young children such as:
- Lack of age verification
- Lack of parental controls
- Filters used promote idealized body content
- Lack of proper reporting protocols to report adult predator accounts
Plaintiffs allege that the features cited above have caused negative physical, mental, and emotional outcomes among children by addicting young children and adolescents to their platforms.
Our team is uniquely qualified to handle these sensitive cases. Hardeep Shergill, our associate attorney, brings invaluable experience from representing hundreds of children at the Legal Aid Society. Her background in defending children's rights and working with vulnerable clients ensures our approach is both effective and trauma-informed. We understand the delicate nature of these cases and fight for justice while protecting our young clients' well-being.
Causes of Action and Damages
Currently, hundreds of cases that allege harm as a result of social media addictions have been filed against all major social media platforms, and more cases are expected to be filed as the subject gains more attention.
In October 2023, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the entirety of the claims made in the second amended complaint. Although the Court granted the motion in part, the court held that the defendants’ “all or nothing” approach did not sufficiently address the complexity of the facts alleged in the complaint. Importantly, the court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss claims alleging defective design and failure to warn.
In addition to lawsuits brought against social media companies, multiple states, including New York are considering bills that would regulate social media platforms to limit addictive features and possible predatory behaviors.
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